Method and apparatus for preparing coated blanks for conversion into boxes



May 5, 1925. l,536,80l

H. s. LABOMBARDE METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PREPARING COATED BLANKS FOR CONVERSION INTO BOXES i ed 5 A 29 192 mama s. LABOMBABDE.

INVENTOR.

Patented May 5, 1925.

iilitfii NT eerie.

rrmmm) s risnomeertiis. oFiuAsHUA, NEW Hair-resum METHOD AND APPARATUS FDR PREPARING COATED ISLANKS FOR CONVERSION INTO I BQXES.

ApplwaElOTl filed August 29, 1924. Serial No. 734,870.

To all whom it may OOMQW'L.

Be it known that I, HAROLD S. LABOM- BARDE, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Nashua, in the county of Hillsboro and State of New Hampshire, have invented certain new anduseful Improve ments inMethods and Apparatus for Preparing Coated'Blanks for Conversion Into Boxes, of which the following is a-speciiication.

This invention relates to the production of moisturesproof paper boxes, and refers )articularly to the treatment of Wax-coated at blanks to prepare them for conversion at any later time into boxes having adhesive1y-secured lapping portions.

A desirable procedure in the manufacture of moisture-proof paper boxes is to first coat both surfaces of the entire blanks, prior to folding them, with was. usually paraiiinc. Such coating, as is well known, renders it quite diflicult to glue the lap joints or flaps together when the blanks are folded to box form, because the wax prevents the glue which is preferably employed from adhering to the overlapped surfaces of the blanks,

Attempts have been made to remove sufficient wax from the portions of the blanks which are to be glued together, by a kind of scraping or cutting action, but the tools employed. for such purpose soon 36011211- late an objectionable quantity of the wax which interferes with successful use of such tools for any practical length of time Other attempts to attain the desired removal of the Wax have included the re moval or driving off of a substantial portion of the Wax by the application of heat to the portions of the blanks which are to be glued together, glue being immediately applied to those portions and. the blanks folded and the glued surfaces pressed .together While said portions are still heated. The result is that the outside of the boxes show streaks of discoloration along the lapped glued joints, this being due to the heat beingtransinitted through the paper.

. Such transmission of the hes. not only ren ers those portions darker thenthe rest of tie paper, but also dulls the. outer surface ofthe, oint so that it is far less glossy than the rest of the box.

like principal object of the present in mg iin re vention is to produce waxed paperboxes which have, uniformly Waxed outerv surftCQ-S,Sli0WlD no dull or darker streaks o-r arc-as where glue is employed. I

Another object is to so prepare the blanks that any desired quantity of them can be made ready and piled 'or stored until such time as any suitable or preferred folding; machine is ready to have such prepared blanks fed to it, thereby avoiding any cutting down of the speed of the folding niachine which, usually, is a far more expensive machine than anything 'retpiired to prepare the blanks. Sonic folding niachines have an ope 'ativc speed of produc tion of more than 50,000 an hour,but waxed blanks can not be successfully li eat-trcatcd at any such speed.

. In the accompanying drawings I illustrate mochanic'nlw features of inyinvcntion,

which features niay be employed in carr ing out my improved method. Of said drawings: j V

Figure l is a plan view of the machine.

Figure 2-rcprescnts a section on line 22 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 represents a. section'cn line 3 3 of Figure 1 be a slightly larger scale and omitting some of the parts shown in Figures 1 and 22..

Similar reference characters lar parts iniall of the views.

At one end of'a suitable frame 12 is a hopper for a pile of blanks a which are fed from said hopper singly and successively by feed belts 13. As the blank feeder may be of any suitable or preferred type, details thereof are unnecessary herein. From the feeder the blanks pass to and are carried by lower carrier belts l4; mounted on pulleys carried by shafts l5, and upper carrier belts 16 mounted on pulleys carried by shafts 17. The coacting stretches or runs of the upper and lower belts are guided by small rolls carried by cage bars 1.8, said bars being mounted on tie rods IE) and laterally adjustable thereoh as by means of screws 20 having crank handles 2.1..

The ilittillllllfi illustrated is a du lest one, and the eby n indicate simie' advantages be M merely the eiiccting eitice the production oi; as iuaehure capable of ear:-

, scs certain vantages rying through only one row or succession of blanks. By referring to Figures 1 and 3 it will bo'seen that there are two feed hoppers, side by side, and that there are two pairs or" lower belts and upper belts and roll cages. Therefore there are two sets of adjusting screws 20, those of each set being arranged to be simultaneously and equally operated by means of chains 22 connecting sprockets carried by the screws. This is to enable either one of the two machine units to carry blanks of difierent sizes. This general type of adjusting mechanism is similar to what is commonly employed in box folding machines and therefore needs no further description.

"When the blanks to be operated upon are known as high-glossed 'blanks, carrying a heavy coating of wax on the surfaces, some of the wax is to be removed from one surface of the flaps a and from the other surface of the margin a at the opposite edge of each blank. When the blanks are but lightly coated with wax it may be suflicient to drive the wax below the surfaces referred to I, instead of entirely ren'iovingit. To ellect this lit":

I employ two elongated heating units or elements 23 adjustably mounted on the tie rods 19, in position to contact with and act on the under surfaces or the flaps a of the two rows of blanks being fed through the machine (Figs. 1 and 3), and a single heating unit or element at the mid-width oi the machineto simultaneously contact with and act upon the upper surfaces of the adjacent margins a" of the same two rows of blanks. This feature of.the machine enables three heating units or elements to act upon four different portions of the blanks. The long strips 23, 24., may include suitable electrical heating members or may be steam or air heated. In Figure 3 the members 25 may be simply supporting posts or may be conduits for electrical wiring or for steam or hot air The blanks are fed rapidly along by the belts and are delivered into a water tank 26 before the heat to which single surt'ac portions of the blanks are subjected has time to penetrate through the stock to the other surfaces of those portionsQthe water in tank being, of course, cold.

To ensure practically instantaneoussubmersion of the blanks below the surface of the cold water, I employ upper belts 2'7 mounted upon rolls carried by shafts 28 and lower coacting belts mounted upon rolls carried by shat; the belts 29 passing under guide and tightener rolls or pulleys 31. A drum or roll 32 holds the cooperating stretches of the upper and lower immersion belts close to- .gether. The immersion beltsdeliver the blanks to a pair of rolls 33 which, in'turn, deliver later, glue-lapped, in conditi for conversion into moisturev opposite surfaces s 30, the lower stretches of.

the completed prepared blanks into a pair of receptacles 3:: carried by brackets 35 mounted upon a transverse rod 36.

As the drive and gear mechanism of the machine is clearly illustrated, and as it may be otherwise designed and constructed, a detailed description thereof is unnecessary.

A single attendant may, by alternately supplying the two hoppers with the blanks to be fed, and removing the prepared blanks from the receptacles 34, attend to the one machine which is operating on two rows ot' blanks simultaneously. I preferably construct each receptacle 34 of two members, as indicated by Figure 1, in order to proride a space to facilitate grasping a pile to remove it from said two-part receptacle.

The present invention, is particularly adapted for the production, of higlrglossed blanks with those portions which are to be, on to be secured together, without having the external appearance of the boxes marred by lines which are darker or less glossy than the rest of the surfaces oi"; the boxes. And the complete preparation of the blanks is effected Without regard tovlwhether a. folding machine is at -hand uni-ready to run,

Having now described my invention, I claim: w

l. The method of preparingpaper blanks roof boxes,' consistingin first waxing the lanks, then subjecting those portions of the blanks which are to receive glue to the action of heat, and then chilling the blanks before the heat can affect theopposito surfaces of said portions.

2. The method of preparing waxed paper blanks for conversion into moisture-proof boxes, consisting in subjecting single surfaces of marginal portions of the Waxed blanks to the action of'heat, and then chill ing the blanks before the heat can aflect the of said marginal portions. of preparing waxed paper blanks for conversion into moisture-proof boxes, consisting in subjecting single surfaces of marginal portions of the Waxed blanks to the action of heat, and then mediately immersing the blanks in cold water.

A machine of the character described, comprising means for heating single sur: faces of selected areas of waxed aper blanks, and means for subjecting the b alike to the action of a chilling agent.

5. A; machine of the character described,. comprising means for hcating single surfaces of selected areas of waxed paper blanks, a water tank, and meanszfor delivering the blanks quickly into said tank after leaving the said-hea ting means. '6. A machine for preparing Waxed paper The method blanks for conversion into moisture-proof boxes, comprising means for causing the blanks to travel means for beating single surfaces elft'lie glue lap portions of tlie blanks while travelling. :lllll a, water bath in pwilinn lo rei'ein: an l eliill lbe blanks.

T. A n ai-liine 'l'er nquiring waxed paper blanks 'l'ui' ('UllYi'l'HlUll inlo nn'iislan'e-prueE boxes comprising lllkiilllr; 'l'or causing the blanks tn li'awl, elungalml lnialling elements -in position to contact Willi the miller sun face of one marginal million and llie upper Suiace oi the n iposile marginal pei'liion ()l iaeli passing blank, and a walei' bath in peeilinn l0 reeeivv and i'liill .be blanks.

8. ln a machine 0i l'lie eliai'acl'ei (lCS(l'll)l,(l, llllllllS l ill vnllr lli lf axial blanks l0 li'avel Hl(l0. by side, a aing lv beating element in position lasziinnllaneinisly fillun the adjacent niaiginal nn-(lam ul' (no passing blanks, Zlllll healingelements in puailion to act on tile ()lllQl' parallel marginal portions of said blanks. i

-eoinp1.'isin;: rave blank leeilei's 9. In a machine 0; the character deseribell, carriers for causing "waxed blanks to travel side by side, a single lnzatine; element in position to simultaneously act on the adjacent marginal pmtimis el': Sillll blanks, heating elements in position to act on llllt. other parallel marginal portion of; nakl blanks and nuans for lalei'all adjnaling sa'nl (any New and heating elements.

l0. A machine {if the character llesi-i'ibell, skle by SlLlkH parallel blank eai'iriei's in line will; said l'eellei'n, a beating elenianl in line Willi llie space inenla substantially in line \\'ll.l\ lliu ()lllii siiles ol {lie llieileis. ainl a water bath in position to receive blanks l'mni saill L'QUI'lLlS.

In tesliniony whereof I. hav allixml my signature.

HAROLD S. LA lllllil BARBIE.

belaveen a; Feeders, We limiting ele-- 

